A PARADISICAL DIALOGUE BETWIXT FAITH and REASON DISPUTING The high mysterious Secrets of Eternity the like never extant in our Revelation As touching God in Eternity how he became time in flesh and how he dyed in the grave and ascended to his glory again ALSO What the Angels are in form and nature and how the Angel became a Devil and that Devil man and that this World was prepared for the Devil so this the Devils Kingdom and what the Soul is with the place of its glory and torment With a brief Narration what a Commission is and how many Commissions there are what the difference of their worships and how that the Law was given to the Devil with a brief discourse on the Catechism the Lords Prayer and the Creeds as also a Divine Prospect to the Elect of the Lord. Written by Law Claxton the onely true Bishop and faithful Messenger of Christ Jesus Creator of Heaven and earth London Printed for the Author and are to be sold by William Learner at the Blackmoor near Fleet-bridge 1660. INDEX Chap. 1. SHewing whether God be a Spirit without á body or that God is a body of flesh and bone glorified Chap. 2. Shewing whether the Father became not a Son which Son was Christ and by death became a Father to all Eternity now in heaven glorified Chap. 3. Shewing Christ is the onely God and Father Creator of Heaven and earth now it is to be revealed what God and Father that was and where he was that Christ so often called upon when he was upon earth Chap. 4. Shewing whether the Angels were the first that God created and of what he created them with their nature and form and what was the cause of the Angels fall above all the rest Chap. 5. Shewing whether this World was before the Angels or no and whether this World was made of something or nothing and how it came into form and being and whether it shall for ever thus remain Chap. 6. Shewing of what matter Adams body was created and what was his nature soul or spirit and by what means he came to lose that estate he was created in Chap. 7. Shewing who it was that tempted Eve and Adam whether it was the Angel aforesaid and if so why is he called a Serpent Beast or Tree c. and how and which way they were deceived and what effect it hath ever since produced Chap. 8. Shewing whether Cain was not the first Devil and who are his seed or children and what Devils those were so frequently spoken of in Scripture Chap. 9. Shewing what the soul is and what it is that dyes how that it is none but the soul which is the life of the body that can dye Chap. 10. Shewing what Heaven is and how many heavens there are what the nature and form thereof Chap. 11. Shewing what Hell is and where it is what the form and nature of its torment Chap. 12. Shewing what Authority a Commissioner hath in the vertue of his Commission what the effects and operations thereof Chap. 13. Shewing what the Law is at large and in short and whether any can keep the Law and when he is said to keep the Law and when not Chap. 14. Shewing whether that prayer doth not belong to all and whether by prayer we may come to the knowledge of God and whether it is our duty to make use of the Lords prayer Chap. 15. Shewing whether there be any truth in the faith of the Church of England expressed in the Creeds or Articles recorded Chap. 16. Shewing in eighteen Propositions the invincible mighty great Authority that is intrusted with a Divine Commissioner Also an eternal whip or scourge for the Quakers for belying the Holy Ghost A PARADISTICAL DIALOGUE BETWIXT Faith and Reason Disputing the high Mysterious Secrets of Eternity the like never yet extant in our Revelation CHAP. 1. Shewing whether God be a Spirit without a body or that God is a body of flesh and bone glorified Reason FRiend having such a convenient opportunity to have some conference with you my request is to know your judgement as touching the true God and that the more in this distracted age There are so many opinions concerning him That some holds him forth an Infinite Spirit c. others say Though God be a Spirit yet there are three Persons in the Godhead the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God the same in Substance equal in Power and Glory Now if thou please let me hear what thy judgement is of God Almighty Faith Notwithstanding this hodg-podg it matters not me what thou or all the wise men of the world hold For from the Spirit of Revelation I infallibly against men and Angels affirm That God the Creator of Heaven and earth is in the Person and Form of a man Reason How is it possible that God the Creator of all forms should admit of a form of his own Faith I say unless that Divine heavenly Faith or Nature had a Form or Person of his own he could not have created man after his own form image or likeness Reason Yea I grant God created man after his own image in righteousness and holiness but no otherwise Faith Ah pitiful Soul how thy riches choaks thee and thy wisdom blindes thee from believing in the true God that thou shouldst conceive that righteousness or holiness can be created without a form or didst thou ever read or hear of any holiness in any other creature but man onely so that thou canst not say this or that is holiness without a form and that the form of man above Reason What necessity or what ground can be shown that God who is the Creator of all forms should admit of a form of his own Faith It was the greatest ground of all for if God had not a form of his own it had been in vain to create either Angel or man in his form and that because he created them to behold his glorious person Reason Why cannot the glory of God be seen unless he admit of a Person and what matter of glory can be delighted onely in a single Person for I conceive him more glorious when he is a Spirit without a bosty for then he can fill Heaven and Earth wiâ—h his glory and every creature that he hath made then beholds iâ— in that they enjoy part of it Faith I say no glory can be seen without a Personal Substance nay it cannot bear the title of glory without a body for the glorious Spirit that ever was if it had not a body were nothing at all in that a Spirit cannot be seen so no delight in that which is not for what delight could man have with his wife if she had no person And whereas thou sayest God having a Person cannot fill Heaven and earth with his glory I say without his Person he could fill nothing at all As for instance what glory can there be in a
Divine Heavenly Substance in the proportion and linaments of a man whose person was more bright and glorious then the Sun softer then Doun and swifter then thought So that I say this was the substance the Fathers person then consisted of and against men and Angels I affirm that there was no person before the world but the Father onely neither could he beget a Son until he dissolved his Divine substance into seed in the womb of Mary by which dissolution the Father begot or conceived himself into a Son of flesh blood and bone For this by faith I know that the person of the Father was capable of transmutation into the form of flesh though now he is not having taken upon him the form of flesh in fulfilling that promise saying The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the Serpent Gen. 3. 15 which was no other but the Eternal Father was to be born of a woman with flesh blood and bones so that it was not the Father begot a Son but the Father became a Son as the Prophet Eliah by Revelation clearly unfolds saying unto us A childe is born unto us a Son is given and the Government Isa 9 6. shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellour the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of peace and then it is written that that Word or Eternal Spirit that formed it self as aforesaid that Word became flesh and dwelt among us and saith Paul The Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily so that it is clear as in the Ioh. 1. 14. second Chapter is infallibly proved that the Father begot no Son before the Worlds but the Father in time became a Son himself and that not in two persons but one person alone But then what wilt thou do with these Scriptures where it is written Reason Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee also it is said We beheld his glory the glory as of the Psal 2. 7. onely begotten of the Father and again it it said Ioh 1. 14. Unto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and again Heb. 1. 5. No man hath seen God at any time the onely begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father He hath declared him also it is written I will be to him a Father Joh. 1 17. and he shall be ti me a Son Now if Christ was not begotten of his Father why or wherefore should the Apostles Revelation declare that Christ had a Father and was begotten by him Faith As I have often told thee so I say again What hast thou to do with Scripture our Commission being the onely Interpreter thereof thou not believing the report therein was damned Yet for the further satisfaction of the hearers that shall believe this I shall declare that the Apostles in their Commission was not to know Christ any further or otherwise then onely a Son begotten by his Father and that for them in their time was sufficient as the Son himself expresseth John 15. 16. All things that the Father hath made known to me I have made known unto you also Paul declares He that confesseth with his tongue and believeth with his heart that Christ is the Son of God shall be saved Though now in our Commission it is not sufficient in that our Revelation leads us infallibly to believe Christ was and is the Everlasting Father Creator of Heaven and earth as by Scripture is confirmed All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made So that Christ as he was the Father was the Creator of all things whether in Heaven or earth as is manifest in that intricate Revelation of Paul which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead c. Who can Eph. 1. 20. tell but our Commission who raised Christ from the dead was there any other God or Father but what was within him that raised him from the dead as he saith I have power John 10. 18. to lay down my life and I have power to take it again as in the third Chapter is shewed at large And who should set him at the right hand of the Father but the Godhead power within him that enthroned him far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not onely in this world but that which is to come insomuch that Christ by his death hath conquered himself to be head over all things And what is that which so highly promoted him above all even his Spiritual body the fulness in which was that which filled all in all So that I say That Father which Christ so often called upon vvhen he vvas on earth I say if it had not been his creature Elias commissionated in Glory then Christ could have made nothing nor by his own power have quickned himself to life again Nay I say if Christ had a real Father that had begotten him then Christ could not have had the preheminence in power name and been the chief head in that the Father is above the Son But hovvever let blinde Reason think vvhat it vvill from an infallible Spirit I say that Elias vvas his Deputy-Father and so at Christs ascension vvas to give up his Authority and Commission to Christ the Eternal Father from vvhence he received it 2. Secondly Thou believest God a reasonable soul perfect God and perfect man c. In ansvver to vvhich from the Revelation of Faith I tell Answ thee is the greatest blasphemy that by man can be imagined as to consider the nature of the tvvo Seeds viz. Faith and Reason First as in relation to their Satisfaction Secondly their povver First What Divine satisfaction could there be in God if there were the least spark of Reason in him I knovving in Reason there is no real satisfaction vvhatever it being a seed though as pure as in the Angels yet it is altogether unsatisfactory in it self as hath been proved in the Reprobate Angel he being left to his pure Reason alone vvas brought to aspiring confusion if possible to unthrone God and all creatures made by him as at large in the fourth Chapter is proved vvhich if the nature of God vvere but pure Reason then might the Reprobate Angel have kept his standing and the rest of the Angels have had full satisfaction in themselves vvithout any supply from God at all vvhich in the fourth Chapter thou hast heard to the contrary And therefore if the Nature of God vvere pure Reason he could have no satisfaction in himself but from another and so in conclusion there must be some above God to satisfie God Therefore from that God vvho is a body of living Faith I say Cursed is that soul vvho believes God to have the least motion of Reason in him nay further in the povver of our Commission I say
Spirit also and yet the Nature Soul or Spirit of either God Angel or Man cannot be worshipped without a body for there is no Spirit whether immortal or mortal celestial or terrestial but it hath its own body and that sutable to its own nature as if its Spirit be an immortal glorious Spirit so is his body immortal glorious also and if its Spirit be mortal earthly so is its body mortal earthly also and this I say all bodies whether of God Man or Beast are invisible and seeth that which is without yet it self cannot be seen by any outward sight For who seeth the Spirit of a man save he that hath it So that I say if God were a Spirit without body he could not be seen so not worshipped no more then a Kings Spirit without a body could be honouâ—ed and therefore God being a spiritual body must be worshipped in Spirit And where thou sayest Feel me for a Spirit hath no flesh and bone as ye see me have I say from those words of the Lord Jesus it doth not in the least conclude that a Spirit is not cloathed with flesh and bone for I affirm the Apostles as well as others were dark in many things till Christ was glorified they supposing that Spirits might be seen without bodies and that by the eye of nature therefore Christ walking uâ—on the Sea and appearing among them the Doors and Windows being shut was the main cause of their sudden fear supposing they had seen a Spirit so that for the future and clearer satisfaction Christ tells them a Spirit hath not flesh and bone as ye see me have though I be all Spirit yet feel me and behold my wounds and the print of my nails so that understand a Spirit without flesh and bone cannot be seen or felt unless a spiritual body so that against Angels and all thy Seed I affirm that God that Christ which said to the woman of Samaria God was a Spirit I say that self same Spirit was not in Heaven but in Christs body alone CHAP. 2. Shewing whether the Father became not a Son which which Son was Christ and by death became a Father to all Eternity now in Heaven glorified Reason THou hast told me all along that God hath a body in the form of a man and now thou sayest that the Spirit of God was in Christs body and not in the body of God the Father Where then was the body of God when his Spirit was in Christ Faith I shall affirm that as the Spirit of God was in Christ so the body of Christ was the body of God Creator of Heaven and Earth not two but one yea the very self-same body Reason Oh Friends this is a strange saying indeed that the body of God the Father should be the person of Christ If so how or which way came he down from Heaven to Earth it is so mysterious that it is beyond my reach or understanding Faith What is strange to thee is familiar with me for thou reads and understands not though it is frequently written in Scripture That Eternity was to become time yea immortality was to become mortal which is no less that the Father was to become a Son as it is written The seed of the Woman shall Gen. 3. bruise the head of the Serpent and to Esaiah it was revealed these saâ—ings For unto us a Child is born and unto us a Esay 9. 6. Son is given and his Name shall be called wonderful Counsellour the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace and again it is written In the beginning was the Joh. 1. 1 2 Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God which Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst men So that I affirm the coming down of the immortal personal God was clouded in those sayings The holy Ghost stall come Luke 1. 35. upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore also the holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Reason I do not deny the truth of those sayings but do believe that Christ was the Son of God conceived by the holy Ghost but how or which way God was this Son I cannot tell neither do I believe that God did any more unto her then he did unto Adâ—m when he made him a living Soul the Scripture saith He breathed unto him and he became a living Soul So in the same manner I conceive God breathed into Mary and by that breath she conceived the Seed of God in her womb and so she not knowing of man called him the Son of God and not God for God was in Heaven when he was upon Earth Faith From my Seed-spring I say that the Childe that vvas conceived in the vvomb of Mary so called a Son Was the Mighty God the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace yea that Babe in her vvomb vvas the very God For the Word was God and became flesh and who was the Rower of the Highest that overshadowed Mary but God Creator of Heaven and Earth take notice that the knovvledge of these sayings vvas not to be revealed to thy Seed for saith the Prophet Vnto us yea unto us Prâ—phets and the Messengers of the Lord a Son is given and a Child is born and therefore thou canst not tell hovv God the Creator should become a Son and Saviour but imagines God as he vvas a Spirit breathed into her vvomb as he breathed into Adam and so by that breath she conceived a man-child as touching this I tell thee there is great difference of a living and a dying Seed for by that breath Adam became life and by her overshadovving she vvas not made alive but had a conception in her living vvomb novv there can be no conception vvithout a Seed and that Seed must first dye before iâ— quicken to life again as it is vvritten Before the Wheat grain dye it abideth alone So that against Angels above and all their Seed belovv I affirm as from the Scriptures before is proved that God the Creator in the form of a man vvho is the onely Povver of the Highest did descend from his Throne and Kingdom as svvift as thought and his vvhole body pierced through her secrets in a Trance and in a momeâ—t dissolved into Seed and there died from an immortal Father and quickned there to a mortal Son of flesh blood and bone so called Christ Jesus the Saviour of the world Reason Oh admiration this is a report of astonishment that for my part I never never read or by the hearing of the ear ever heard till now that God in the form of a man should as thou sayest vvith that form descend from Heaven and for ought I knovv of as large proportion and bigness as thy self enter the vvomb of Mary and the greatest vvonder of all is that God vvith a body as big as thine should descend like lightning from Heaven and
by the man how the Devil got into him nor how this Devil or Devils went out of him and got into the Herd of Swine nor what become of those Devils in the Sea whether drowned in the Sea or no but however so as I have said before so I say again that there is no Devil without a body that can torment another neither can that Devil if he were not generated in man either come in or go out of man but he must be seen otherwise he is no Devil at all as for instance the distemper of man cannot be cast out but it may be seen and felt in the foul and stinking body that poysoned and distempered the minde of man And how dost thou know that the Soul of man leaveth or goeth out of the body at the hour of death CHAP. 9. Shewing what the Soul is and what it is that dieth how that the Soul which is the life of the body can dye and nothing else but life that dieth Reason VVHY I believe the Soul cannot dye because I conceive it a thing impossible the Soul being an Eternal Spirit cannot be capable of death and besides Solomon saith Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it So that it is my believe the Soul cannot dye Faith Though this Principle be fully cleared in the Prophets Book called joyful news from Heaven yet I shall reveal the truth of it upon another account that the Soul is mortal so capable to dye otherwise it could not live Eternal for as nothing but life can dye and that life being dead shall be made capable to live a life Eternal Reason Before thou proceed any further let me but hear how that nothing but life can dye which it is conceived by all knowing men that life which thou callest the Soul is immortal and cannot dye Now that natural life that runs in the blood may dye and therefore it is confessed when a man is murthered or hanged his breath is stifled and so the natural mortal dies yet all this while as Salomon saith The Soul goeth to God that gave it Faith Having in our former writings made it appear that Solomon was the highest pitch of Reason that ever was so what he spake was onely knowledge in nature and not by the Revelation of Faith therefore no Scripture For Reason imagineth things that are not and things that cannot be understood by any sober man much less by a man in Revelation as to think that an immortal Soul or Spirit should be limited to a mortal body which is as possible as light and darkness to dwell together as an immortal Soul to live in a mortal body therefore I say that the Soul and body of man are one distinct living and dying essence for the Soul or Spirit in the womb by degrees congeals together into a rational fire of blood and water and so in due time become a compleat body of flesh blood and bone so that the life that is in man is not Divine but natural onely Reason This is strange that the Soul or Spirit of a child should conceive in the womb that being a breath or gift of God and not generated in or by the seed for I read that God breathed into Adam and he became a living Soul so his Soul was not immortal but mortal and so is all man-kind Faith However it is strange to thee yet I know it is a real truth to me that the Word by which God first created life in man that Word or Breath was immortal which by his fall became mortal as at large is cleared in the seventh Chapter and this know God never created but male and female and gave life but once and since every life in its kinde hath generated bearing seed in its self so that from my Revelation I say that the rational Soul or Spirit of man lyes secretely hid in his seed like unto a spark of fire which spark doth quicken it self into a living form like unto his nature and so having cloathed it self with flesh his Soul or Spirit runs invisibly through the whole body and so is one entire substance being both conceived into life in the womb togegether and both living together upon the earth their appointed time and being both polluted together with sin is it not requisite that they should dye together and turn to the dâ—st and nâ—n-being again until the general bodily Resurrection of all man-kind Reason I know no other but that every man hath in him a good Spirit and a bad spirit as it is written The spirit lusteth Gal. 5. 17. after the flesh and the flesh agaâ—nst the Spirit and these are contrary So that by the learned it is believed that there is a natural life and an Eternal life in one man otherwise the body and Soul are both one which in Scripture I never read that these were both one bâ—t two one fleshly and the other spiritual Faith Didst thou know the truth of what thou hast said then wouldst thou know as followeth that every man in his fallen spirit hath remaining a little light or motion in him to justifie all the righteous proceedings of the Creator in his Conscience at the last day yet mind what I say he hath but one Soul or Spirit in him for that which the Apostle calls spirit in this place was a Divine light of life received unto the dark understanding by vertue of a word speaking from the eternal Spirit of the Lord of glory and not the essence of the holy Spirit for I know that those who do expect a glory to come in the invisible Heavens do confess that the spirit of the Divine Majesty is inâ—â—nite unchangeable immortal eternal therefore how thinkest thou it possible for men or Angels to be capable of the indwelling of the 〈…〉 nce of his Eternal Spirit and that which the Apostle calls flesh was mans own Spirit which consists of nothing but confused lying imagination or cursed carnal reasoning against the Heavenly light aforesaid Now that I may answer the last clause of thy demand that the Soul and body is one it is written All the Souls that came with Jacob into Egypt which came Gen. 46. out of his loins were threescore and six â—ouls again it is written Thy Fathers went dowâ— into Egypt with seventy persons Deut. 10. So that it is plain man is sometimes called Soul and sometimes is called a body or person or Soul Body and Spirit and yet man is but one living essence or substance However the learned of thy seed pretend they know much of this when indeed they know the least of all as to separate a mortal soul from a mortal body or to unite an immortal Soul to a mortal body which is as possible to make light and darkness God and Devil one Reason This is strange that none but thou shouldst know or dâ—scerâ— the Soul immortal when
for he that loveth anâ—ther hath fulfilled the Law And true it is when rightly considered the efficacy of spiritual love it is of so pure and holy a nature that it cannot possibly do any impure or unholy thing when it is moved to manifest it self according to its Divine Property it naturally produceth all Heavenly excellency in the Elect of the Lord Love delights to Lord over none but be servant to all and gives every one preheminence before it self and therefore it truly Honors its Parents Love is so far from envy that instead of killing of any it lieth down at envies feet to be killed of him yea it stayeth envy by its patience and meekness and therefore saith Paul Our weapons are not carnal 2 Cor. 10. 3 4. but spiritual Not a sword of steel but a sword of love Oh! the Revelation of faith teacheth his to flay none but with love nay love is that Divine balsom that it cureth all wounds made by envies weapons Love is so sincere That it will not do that to another that would not another should do to it And therefore it will not commit adultery nor wrong any though it might have many an opportunity to defraud and cozen another it will rather want before it will steal In this love there is no equivocation it will not backbite or stain anothers reputation as it is written Love worketh no Rom. 13. 9. ill to its neighbour and therefore would rather die then bear false witness against either friend or enemy Also this love is generous full of pâ—ty and mercie That it cloathes the naked feeds the hungry visiteth the sick in prison and out of prison Nay this love is so pure that it enjoys it self no longer then it is doing good to others and therefore it will not covet his neighbours house his neighbours wife his mâ—n servant or maid servant his ox or his ass or any thing that is his neighbours so that I tell thee there is none of thy seed but for want of this love breaks the Laws and in some things therein confirms it by authority so that by this I love my neighbor as my self Now my neighbours are the Believers of our Commission that hath faith in our Revelation as it is written Brethren Gal. 5 13. ye have been called unto liberty onely use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another for all the Law is fulfilled in one word even in this Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self For love is the fruit of the Spirit so that all believers are neighbours and therefore it is vvritten Let brotherly love continue love the brotherhood love as brethren This loving our neighbour as our self is life in death as John saith We know that we have passed from death unto life because 1 John 3. 14. we love our neighbours or our brethren Novv the great Commandment is To love God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Novv if thou canst not love thy neighbour that thou hast seen hovv then canst thou love God thou never savvest For what I have seen and heard I declare unto thee that vvithout knovvledge their can be no love and yet vvhat vain repetitions thy Seed makes to a God ye knovv not As I said before so I say again Though some of thy Seed keeps some of the Commandments nay if possible keep all yet in that thou art ignorant of the true God and so Worship another God thou art guilty of all CHAP. 15. Shewing whether Prayer doth not belong to all and that by Prayer we may come to the knowledge of God and whether it is our duty to make use of the Lords Prayer or no. Reason THou seemest to say in thy last That without the knowledge of God no man can love God and so all that he doth is sin What then shall not a man that is ignorant of God pray unto God for knowledge of him otherwise how shall a soul love God and to that end there are many Exhortations Mat. 6. 9 to prayer and that especially the Lords prayer which there we are taught the form and manner thereof as it is written Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth Luk. 11. 2. as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever Amen As I have said before concerning the Sabbath That every Commission in its time and place is to be considered That according to their Revelation so was their Worship but I know the Revelation of the Apostles led them forth to prayer and therefore in their Commission it was requisite and their duty so to do Also the form of these words was directed to the Disciples but none of thy Seed whatsoever for I should blaspheme to say That Christ uttered these sayings for the instruction of thy Seed when he saith your Father is the Devil as it is written Ye are of your Father the Devil Joh. 8. 44. and the lust of your Father ye will do so that this Prayer belongs to none but the Disciples After this manner therefore Gal. 4. 6. pray ye yea ye the beloved of the Lord and sons of the Father as it is written Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son by which you cry Abba Father Now were this set form to be used in these days as I cannot finde that to them to whom it was spoken never made use of that form after yet I say if it were it onely belongs to sons who are believers of a Commission so that I say it belonged to none but us in that by the Revelation of our faith we know the Father that is in Heaven both in form and nature and none but we and therefore as we are sons and not servants we can with joy and peace of conscience say Our Father which art in Heaven whereas your Seed being but servants and no sons may take shame and confusion of face as for a man of quality to have another mans childe in the market-place ask him blessing and call him Father What would his friends think of him judge thou So your Seed that are bastards and not sons when you come in your publique Worships what a babling you make thinking to be Isa 1. 15. heard for your much speaking when he hears you not nor knows you not neither doth he in the least take notice of your fasts nor your tears they are all vain repetitions of no more account then the barking of a Dog or the wallowing of the Sow in the mire From the Lord I speak it they are not Reason What then must we not pray at all though we use not those form of words Yet I believe as
was surrendred into the Person of Christ alone so that after that all the gifts or influence of the Holy Ghost came from Christ as it is written when Christ was ascended to glory then he fills the Apostles full of the Holâ— Ghost which then appeared in the form of a Cloven Tongue and not in the form of a Dove So that it is clear though the Holy Ghost be one intire Divine invisible life in Christ yet take notice the gifts thereof are divers so that the gifts of the Holy Ghost hah various forms though the Holy â—host hath no form but man and that Christ alonâ— And therefore minde the gross darkness of all thy Seed in their Creeds as though the Holy â—host had a Person of its own so the Lord and giver of life when it is written in divers places That Christ is the way the truth and the life I am that bread of life he that believeth on me hath everlasting John 4. life and in his saying to the woman of Samaria But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life So that the Holy Ghost must needs be in Christ in that Christ is the giver of life and yet such blinde reason as thee will have the Holy Ghost in a Person distinct from Christ the Lord and giver of life when to thy shame thou heareâ—t that Christ alone John 11. 25. is the Resurrection and the Life insomuch that he that believeth in Christ though he were dead yet shall he live So thus much in confutation to the authors and believers of of those Creeds Yea from the Revelation of my Faith I infallibly against Angels and all thy Seed of Reason conclude â—hat so many of them so living and so dying in the belief thereof shall with thee perish eternally Yea in the Vertue of our Commission I say there is no God that can or will deliver thee or them to all Eternity A DIVINE PROSPECT FOr the Elect of the Lord that after our departure shall come to the belief of this our last Commission though ye knew us not in our life time yet you have the Revelation of faith left upon record by which you will be supported in believing John Reeve and Lodowick Mugglton the last Commissioners that ever shall appear in Reasons Kingdom as also that I am the onely Bishop or Messenger in Revelation bearing witness against all Gain sayers to the truth of this Spiritual Commission now in being and so to remain till time be no more on this side of death then and at which day it shall be made manifest that we and onely we were the last Messengers of Jesus Christ who at the day of Resurrection shall ascend to glory in the publique view of our Enemies as also all other believers who credited our report not weighing their lives unto death Which when we and all that knew us are in silent dust then I say our Revelation will be in great esteem bâ— the next generation of faith succeeding And therefore that there may be no division among you from the Lord of Glory I reminde you of these enâ—uing Propositions they being a breviate of all the chief heads that my Revelation hath reduced from the Commission 1. You are to believe There was to be three Commissions before the end of this world thus recorded The Spirit Water and Blood and these are the three that beareth witness upon earth 1 John 5. 8. 2. It is to be believed That a Commission is given forth by laudible voyce of words to the hearing of the ear from the mouth of the Lord Jesus in the highest Heavens 3. It is to be believed That who ever pretends a Commission not being one of these are real whimsies notions yea lies and no truth 4. It is to be believed That though a Commission consist of few words without encrease yet their Revelations are various and encreaseth daily 5. It is to be observed That the two last Commissions are not to offend or defend in point of Externals but either active or passive to yield due obedience to King Governor or any other Magistrate whatsoever 6. It is to be believed That no Commission ought to be obedient to any formal Dispensation but in their time or place hath power to curse either Angel or man that in opposition thereof shall hold forth other Doctrine 7. It is to be believed That neither of the two former Commissions was to understand what God in his Form and Nature was in the Creation as this our Commission doth 8. It is to be believed That our Commission alone doth understand how this God and Father after intelligence given to Mary by the Angel descended from heaven as swift as thought into the womb of Mary and there dissolved his immortal body into seed and from thence quickned himself into a mortal body of flesh blood and bone so called a Son 9. It is to be believed That the Eternal Father now become a Son had the Supreme power within him that quickned his Godhead being perfectly dead in the grave to life again without the help of either Father God or Spirit without him whatsoever 10. It is to be believed That the Prophet Elias in his transmutation that nature of faith in him became a chariot of fire so struck out the gross Elements viz. Water Earth and Aire and in that fiery faith of his own ascended to glory to represent the Person of God while he took his journey in the flesh 11. Also it is to be believed That our Commission alone in the Revelation thereof hath the true knowledge of these things as also what the form and nature of the Angels are of what they were created and wherefore created and what was the cause of the Angelical fall above the rest and why and wherefore he was cast into this world in the presence of Adam and Eve 12. It is to be believed that never any but our Commission knew that it was that said Angel that in his whole form entred the womb of Eve and there dissolved into Seed and conceived into flesh blood and bone by which Eve was deceived so called a Beast Serpent Tree of Knowledge of good and evil that so none of that Seed might understand what it was and how it was Eve was deceived 13. It is to be understood That none but our Commission knows that this dissolution of the Angel in the womb of Eve became Cain the first Devil and Father of all the damned 14. It is to be believed That there never was is or shall be any other Devil but men and women and that for the most part he is the comeliest of all other of that form 15. It is to be believed That none but our Commission knows that the souls of both Faith and Reason are mortal ever since the fall of Adam and shall dye and rot in the grave till the day of Resurrection and that
pierce through her secrets as thou sayest in a moment and yet not be seen by any nor she stand amazed yea trembling in fear at so sudden appearance and dissolution of this svvift motional substance into her body for my part I cannot understand it neither vvill Scripture prove it so cannot believe it Faith Well may his dissolution into the vvomb cause admiration vvhen at his birth vvhich vvas no strange thing there should be such a multitude of Heavenly Host rejoicing vvith such Heavenly Harmonies that the Shepherd vvere amazed vvith fear yea a vvonder it vvas to them that heard of it far and near vvhich if there had not been a conception more than ordinary the birth of that conception had not caused such astonishment round about but novv God vvas become a Child yea Eternity become time and for a season to dvvell among his Creation and therefore if thou knevv that the body of God vâ—â—s of a bright glorious Chrystal soft thin transparent substance swifter than thought who at his Divine pleasure can transmute himself as high or as low and into as a straight a passage as can be thought on then thou wouldst cease reasoning and believe what I speak to thee that the body of God consisting of such Divine Spiritual and Heavenly matter as aforesaid could without the sight of any descend from Heaven to Mary And why or wherefore should she be amazed when she had tidings of what should be before Neither was his dissolution any prejudice at all to her but raptures of joy springing up in her Soul to her Eternal comfort Reason What then was all the God that created Heaven and Earth in the womb of Mary and was that the very God that was born in a Manger that was swadled suckled and dandled upon the knees and carried up and down the Countrey in the Armes of his Mother was this God the Father that created all things that now hath life in them that once could not go nor feed himself but be led and fed by its creature As unto this answer me plainly and really what is thy thought on this great mysterious Mystery Faith From the Spirit of Revelation I tell thee that was the very God that the Wise Men went to worship and that Herod did seek to kill was the very Godhead Spirit or Life of that Christ Jesus so that Pauls Revelation told him The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christs body and God Col. 2. 9. was in Christ reconciling the world with many such places and therefore the words that Christ spake was Spirit and Joh 8. 24. Life and again saith Christ Exept ye believe that I am he ye shall dye in your sins So that if the Eternal Godhead had not sprung up this Revelation he could not have uttered those sayings as his own Reason However thou hast quoted some certain places that confirm what thou sayest yet I cannot find but all along as I read God and Christ is two and not one so that there was a God in Heaven when Christ was upon earth and me thinks it is contrary to reason that God which created all Creatures should walk talk eat and drink with them and be affronted by them and as it were have his livelyhood by them that he created Faith Well Friend think of it what thou pleasest yet this I 'le assure thee that God and Christ is not two but one For what necessity was there for God to have a Son Surely if it were as thou sayest either God was in process of time to dye and so make his Son Heir or else he wanted a Companion to keep him Company if not so then the world was too great and so got a Son to assist him yet however I tell thee there never was but one God And surely then he that died for us must save us and if Christ be our Saviour then he must be our Creator and yet what striving here is for two Gods when in the beginning of Moses and the Prophets we read but of One as it is written Isaiah 4. 10 11. Before me there was no God formed neither shall there be after I even I am the Lord and besides me there is no Saviour and then confirms it saying Neither is there Salvation in â—8s 4. 12. any other for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must saved and yet what a flutter thy seed makes about God and Christ so two Gods as though one God should Create and the other God should Save O for shame leave off these things and be silent in thy ignorance for thy seed is so various that some of you will have God a Spirit and Christ the Son a Person and others of you will have three persons and one God and the rest will have no Person at all but an infinite formless Spirit so that from my Revelation I tell thee and all thy seed with thee as by the Prophet Isaiah is proved there never was no God formed before Christ nor never shall be atfer him yet this I know there is three titles but one person which person ever was is and shall be Christ Jesus alone for Christ had the title of God the Father in the Law and the title of God the Son in the Gospel and now God the holy Ghost in this our last commission to which is onely revealed that Christ Jesus is the onely God Reason Then tell me what was that which died in Christ when he was crucified and said now it is finished and gave up the Ghost Faith That was he gave up his Soul to death which Soul was the Eternal Spirit or Godhead Father and therefore it is written He poured out his Soul to death and was offered Heb. 9 14. through the Eternal Spirit So died in mortality and was buried in the grave which Soul Spirit or Godhead in the twinkling of an eye quickned to immortality or spiritual form again Reason If the Creator of Heaven and Earth was that which died in Christ so that the God of all life being then become death How came he or by what means could he be quickned or raised to glory again Faith Yea it was the Soul Spirit that died and was perfectly dead that gave life to all and that life that died in a moment did quicken it self by its ever living Word of Faith spoken before his death that raised him to life saying Joh. 10. 18 I have power to lay down my life and I have power to take it again there being no let or doubt in Faith that could hinder it what it had purpose to do Reason Was all the Power that created Heaven and Earth dead and buried at the very same moment and no power left without Christ to quicken that which was dead within the body of Christ Jesus Faith No more than is in a grain of Wheat and yet that dies and in season quickens again so that there
appointed time but the revelation of Moses and Elias being of the nature of God and a well-spring within their souls was that which did not onely support themselves but fed the Angels also and so kept them with that glorious Kingdom in due government and perfect obedience so that they had power as God himself in all things except creating and therefore it was they fore-warned Joseph and sent the Angel with a heavenly Host to the shepherds and commanded Joseph to flee and said This is my beloved Son Luke 2. 9 13. in whom I am well pleased I say they had power as God to do what you finde written Reason With what bodies did they represent the Place Throne and Dignity of God Faith With the very same body of flesh and bone without blood yet this I say in the transmutation of Elias all the mortal gross elements were struck out of his body viz. water earth and air and that spark of fiery life did divert the former elements into a flame of immortal glorious purity that the body which formerly was of a heavy gross substance was totally dissolved and refined into a glorious immortal spiritual body like God himself so that now they were no mortal creatures but immortal glorious Saints clearer then Chrystal brighter then the Sun and swifter then thought this was the glorious immortal creature that represented the Authority of the Eternal God Reason Did Christ when he was upon earth know that he had Moses and Elias to be his Steward or Deputy-father and if he did whether Christ knew that himself was God and Father Creator of heaven and earth and if so why did he so often and so seriously call upon a Father in heaven which if as thou sayest was but his creature and so God became a Son to his servant Faith I say after the immortal God and Father was become a mortal Son take notice as he lost his title so he lost his knowledge as touching he was Creator of heaven and earth for it was impossible for that which was become time to know it self as he did in eternity or while it was mortal to know what it was in immortality if he could have known it he would not have denied it neither have been by the feed of reason suffered to breath in this world so that I say Christ knew no other but that Elias was his God and father onely this as he grew in yeares so his Godhead revelation grew to the greatest height of knowledge that ever was to be in mortality so great that none was able to dispute with John 7 46 him and therefore it is written Never man speak like this man and his revelation was so high that he knew none was so near related to the father as Christ therefore he said Philip hast thou seen me and not seen the father knowest John 14. 9 10. thou not that the father is in me and I in him and that I and the father am one c. and yet from my seed-spring I say Christ knew not that he was the eternal father for if he had as aforsaid one time or another he would have told it his disciples saying All things the father hath made known to John 15. 15. me I have made known to you therefore who do men say that I am The answer was Some sayest thou art John the Baptist Elias Jeremias or one of the prophets but whom do ye say that I am Peter replies Thou art Christ the Son of the Matth. 16. 17. living God Now Christ owns this and no more saying Peter flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee and upon this rock I will build my Church c. so after Christ was risen with a spiritual body yet he knew not that he was the father as mind his words to Mary Go tell my brethren and thy brethren John 20 17. that I ascend to your father and my father to your God and my God so that till he was glorified he knew no other but that he had a father so that though Christ was the very God yet he bore the title of a Son and though Elias was but a glorified saint yet for that time was he honored with the title of God and Father Reason If thou canst tell me and therein deal planly with me what necessity was there for God thus to lose himself both in honor and knowledge and for what or wherefore was the cause that he laid down his life or poured out his soul or godhead-Godhead-spirit to death and whether it be matter of salvation to search into these deep secrets and other things depending thereon Faith If that eternal divine ever-living Body of Faith could in his royal will and pleasure been moved to any other way there had been no necessity to leave his glorious kingdom by which he lost his glory and honor both in title and knowledge but there was no other way so of absolute necessity and therefore he declares it as his promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the Serpent that as he had permitted the angels seed to deceive his own so he would by the same way undeceive it again to its former state before its fall and where it is written John withstood him at his baptism Christ said Suffer me this once to fulfil all righteousness Mat 3. 15. or fulfil all that the prophets have written of me as also it is written by Moses and most of the prophets of what befel him how he should be born of a woman and where he should be born and when led to death he was as a lamb dumb that opened not his mouth and that he should be as one despised forsaken and lost as unto title and knowledge and suffer the shameful death of the cross by thy seed that so he might keep thy seed under eternal death without which he could not have raised his own seed to eternal life the seed of the serpent to eternal misery and I say till he had thus suffered all power in earth was not his own as it was in heaven neither had he been Judge of the dead but living only so that from my seedspring I say it is the greatest concernment of a Souls salvation to know whether Jesus Christ be the onely God of no what he is both in form and nature â—â—y which the Devil is known in his form and nature without the knowledge of these things in one measure or another no soul in mortal flesh can be saved CHAP. 4. Shewing whether the Angels were the first that God created and of what he created them with their nature and form and what was the cause of the Angels fall above all the rest Reason WHat was the first creature God made And of what created he them and what was their nature and form Faith I affirm that the Angels were the first sensible living Beings formed by the Creator and that he
hear thy thoughts whether this world was in being before the Angels because thou sayest the Angel was thrown into this world Faith Thou hast raised that which neither thou nor any of thy Seed can answer in that this and other that shall be revealed is onely to the Seed of Faith therefore for thy conviction and the satisfaction of the Seed of the Woman I against Angel and man declare and infallibly affirm that the substances of earth and water in this world and that glorious World above were from all Eternity in the Creators presence uncreated senseless dark dead matter like unto water and dust that had no kinde of life light or vertue in them in the least so that I say this world upon the account aforesaid was before the Angels creation Reason By the learning of this world we have understood that those substances of earth and water was not Eternal onely the Creator speaking the word so they came in being also it is written In the beginning God created the Gen. 1. Heaven and the Earth so that I understand there was no earth nor water till it was created Faith As I have said before so I say again this doth not belong to thy seed to know it for it is written Through Faith we understand the worlds were framed by the Word of God Heb. 11. 3. So that by Faith I say that earth and vvater vvas Eternal and the vvord frame or create is to make formlesâ— dead vvater into sensible living forms for thou maist read That earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep c. So that there vvas an earth and vvater though dead and dark so vvithout form Novv the vvord creating or framing vvas to give life and light to those substances of death and darkness and therefore it is vvritten The Spirit of God moved upon the waters and said Gen. 1. 2. let there be light and there was light So that against Angel or man I positively affirm that the earth and the deep vvater vvere essentially one Chaos of confused vvater distinct from the Creator and vvhereas it is said In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth is thus to be understood that of the matter of vvater and earth that vvas formless and void God by a vvord speaking did create a formable vvorld as a place of convenient residence for such mortals as thou and I to inhabit in Reason Though it be consented that the earth and vvater in the beginning vvas dead and dark yet I cannot see but they vvere created so not eternal for it is vvritten I create light and I create darkness so that it vvill follovv God Isaiah 45. 7. created them vvithout form and void Faith In ansvver to this it is vvritten That God is light and in him is no darkness at all yet it is vvritten Darkness was upon the deep So that I knovv from eternity the Divine 1 John 1. 5. Nature of the Creators Spirit vvas nothing but immortal fiery glory of Life and Light so vvithout Controversie the dead earth and dark deep vvater never proceeded all Life and Light out of his glorious mouth and vvhereas thou sayest God created darkness is not intented as thou supposest but the meaning is that he created those Souls that vvere naturally dark into a marvellous light as these Scriptures vvill plainly manifest The light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not and again I will open their John 1. 5. eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God vvith many such places but not one Scripture that God created or gave any being or beginning unto dead dark senseless earth and water aforesaid Reason I cannot yet understand but that God created that confused Chaos of water and earth and so of nothing by his word speaking this world was made Faith Though thou be the Seed of Reason yet in this thou art unreasonable to think that ever those dark dead Elements of earth and water should have their Original from his glorious Spirit I say their natures being so contrary it is impossible they should proceed the one from the other For alas What is death or darkness is it not through the absence of life and light and is not life being overcome by death absolutely become death or darkness or utter silence for a moment and if light and darkness life and death meet together is there any peace between them until one hath swallowed up the other If this be so as it is so then without Controversie earth and water were uncreated substances eternally distinct from the God of Life Light and Glory and that the more it is written And darkness covered the face of the deep therefore I say it is but a dream and a lye to say that God created all things of nothing or that God created that confused Chaos of water and earth it is all one as if thou shouldst say there was no Creator at all but earth and water and such like dead stuff as they are Reason It is written God made a Firmament and divided the waters that were under the Firmament from the waters which were above the Firmament Now was this Firmament Eternal as the rest Faith I say the Firmament that is visible was Eternal though it was of that dead dark matter as the other was Now the word making is the same creating which is no other then as aforesaid to make that which was dead and dark to be lively light and therefore God made Sun Moon and Stars and set them in the Firmament to give light upon this earth so that the Sun is the life of the earth the Moon the life of the waters Reason What then is the Nature of the Water and the Earth above this visible Firmament the same with this water and earth in this world Faith No in nature they are not the same for that above the Firmament is immortal spiritual when as this is mortal natural And therefore the Angels and all the creatures therein being created of that matter are spiritual immortal bodies when as man and all creatures herein are natural mortal bodies and therefore it is written There are Heavenly Bodies and earthly bodies celestiaal and terrestial the one above durable this below perishing that above sutable for such a glorious personal Majesty as the Creator is CHAP. 6. Shewing of what matter Adams body was created and what was his Nature Soul or Spirit and by what means Adam came to lose his state he was created in Reason THen tell me of which of the two substances was the body of Adam created of that above or this below Faith There is no Dispute to the contrary but that Adam was created of this earth below in that he is numbred among this visible creation as in Genesis is related And that Adam was to be Lord and rule over them and the Scripture tells thee what
presumption for I know it is the curse of God and not of man that must bring a soul under condemnation Faith Whatever thy thoughts are of me I matter not but this thou shalt â—â—nde that I have power in the Revelation of my Commission to curse not onely thee but any of thy seed that shall do as thou hast done to call it a lye And in the Revelation of my faith I say That the Sentence of Blessing and Cursing belongs onely to the Prophets and Messengers of that Commission for I testifie unto thee That God the giver of Commissions never damned any but the Angelical seed in the Womb of Eve who is the Father of thee and all the damned as all along it is recorded That in the name of the Lord the Prophets and Apostles pronounced Plagues Woes and Judgements against all the despisers of their Commission in that they were Ambassadors and Stewards in Christs stead so we the Prophets and Messengers of God represent the Authority of our Commission as the Prophets and Apostles did in theirs Reason If thou please let me hear what thou intends by a Commission and why this is a Commission more then any other Dispensation now in being for I conceive were it not ambition in them that Quakers and all others may assume the Authority to bless and curse as now thou dost Faith Notwithstanding I have sufficiently unfolded our Commission in the Quakers Downfal yet that thou mayest be left excuseless I shall in another way infallibly lay down the truth thereof in these particulars 1. How many Commissions there was to be in this perishing world 2. The nature and tenor of a Commission 3. The powerful operation of a Commission 1. As unto the first it is writ There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and there are three that bear witness 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. on earth the Spirit the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one Now as God did consist of three titles and not three persons as thou and thy seed vainly immagine that is to say Father Son and Holy Ghost So from each of these issued forth a Commission upon this earth for in the time that he bore the title of Father Moses and the Prophets was in Commission Now when that Father became Word Flesh so called Son or Christ then the Apostles were in Commission after that both Father and Son became Holy Ghost or one entire Spiritual Body now in Heaven glorified the next after came forth our Commission so that according to the titles above there was to be three Commissions in this world suitable to the three titles in Heaven 2. As unto the nature of a Commission it is not given in silence but upon record under hand and seal to the Messenger or Messengers therein included with an exact charge to observe the Kings pleasure according to the tenor and form thereof Now this Commission being given to thee doth not concern another for the names included for that Embassage doth this Commission belong Now for any other to counterfeit thy Commission thou hast power by vertue thereof to apprehend him for a Traytor against the King thy Master Even so it is with a Commission from God which is not given by private whisperings in the soul as all counterfeits imagine every motion whimsey or fancy in the minde more then ordinary is a call from God not knowing yet daily reading that all Commissions were given by laudable voyce of words to the hearing of the ear as to Moses Paul and now in this last to John Reeve Now then what are all these seven Dispensations but by Moses the Apostles and this Commission impeached for Traytors against Christ the Lord of Glory 3. And thirdly the power of a Commission is so great that it commands yea subjects the spirits of all that it hath to deal with A man in Commission represents the Authority of the great God of Heaven and Earth that whatever he bindes imprisons or condemns on earth is so in Heaven and whosoever he declares blessed or happy here are so in Heaven so that if thou wert not stone blinde thou wouldst then see that there is no Teacher publique nor private now living that hath a Commission but we and therefore it is we have power overall mens spirits yea the judge of all spiritual things of what sect or opinion soever Reason O what a boasting dost thou make that none but your Commission hath power over mens spirits and that onely to you belongs blessing and cursing when I conceive there is many able wise Teachers that are as true Commissioners as you and yet dare not assume that power to themselves as you do Faith O thou man of pretended light yet gross darkness bring any man now living except this Commission that dares say he had a Commission by voyce of words from God as we have thou shalt hear that I will curse them as I have cursed thee And where is any of your Teachers that hath a Commission of his own but Moses and the Apostles whom they have counterfeited and made merchandize for their own gain From the Lord of Glory I say not any of them no not the wisest or moderatest head-peice dare or can in peace of conscience say that thou art damned and another is saved Alas poor blinde leaders of the blinde they know not what will become of their own souls how then can they judge anothers but they will be condemned for so doing for were I not certain of the knowledge of the true God and the right Devil and all others that are ignorant thereof are culpable of judgement instead of being justified I should be condemned and yet what a flutter Caesars Ministers make in praying to a God that is no God and preaching delusions of their own inventions pretending thus and thus saith the Lord when Christ the onely God knows them not neither did he send them therefore from my Seedspring I say they are all Thieves and Robbers yea Traytors against the God of Heaven for do but bring any of them before me and thou mayest take notice I have power over their blinde zeal that if they do not for future desist in bewitching the people to believe lies thou shalt then hear the same sentence pass upon them as hath already passed upon thee Reason Which of them will believe the sentence of thy Commission unless thou couldst shew some present example either without or within as the Prophet Elias did to cause fire from Heaven and stop the rain that it rain not Now if thy curse be true how comes it that I do not finde it immediately within or without Faith Thou art worse then the inhabitants of Jerusalem aâ—d Judea Mat. 11. 11. that believed in John that did no miracle and yet was a Prophet yea I say more then a Prophet for as Christ said among them that
are born of women there hath not risen a greater then John the Baptist and yet thou and thy â—eachers will not believe unless present vengeance fall upon thee But know this though the Pharisees desired a sign from Christ and Mat. 12. 38. none would be given them but the sign of the Prophet Jonas yet know this he was Christ the Eternal God for all that and though Christ rebuked James and John in the saying Luke 9. â—4 Lord wilt thou that we command fire from Heaven and consume them even as Elias did yet they were not for the future freed from the Eternal fire in their souls So let me tell thee and yet not I but the Revelation of the Holy Spirit within me though not presently yet it shall flame within thee as fire from Heaven and that without end till it consume all thy hopes of salvation and thou shalt know and finde that this sentence of thine shall shut the Heavens and it shall rain no more showers of mercy or comfort in thy soul so that I say though thou finde it not presently thou shalt as surely feel it after death as Christ is God the Eternal Father And what if miracles did belong to our Commission as they do not in that ours is the Commission of the Spirit so our sentence spiritual thou wouldst no more believe then thou dost now but rather call us Conjureâ—s unless the tenor of our Commission was as the two former to execute present vengeance and if it were executed once or twice and not upon every occasion thou wouldst be as much seared up in unbelief as thou art now Reason If thy Commission were as real truth as Moses and the Apostles and such a power did attend thine as was in theirs then I should as truly believe in yours as now I do in them Faith Ah blinde Soul thou dost not know what is truth and what not for if thou didst thou wouldst as really believe in me as in them But from my Seedspring I tell thee That thou nor none of thy Seed do really believe that the Scripture is a true Record of the Transactions of Christ thou mayest talk of it and preach from it but if thou wert really perswaded in thy own soul of the truth therein contained then thou wouldst believe in us for the Apostles writ of us as Moses and the Prophets writ of Christ to come and therefore if thou didst believe in them that have nothing but a dead letter to prove them Commissioners surely then thou wouldst believe in us that are living and know this if the Roman Authority had not established Moses and the Apostles Writings for Scripture then it had been believed no more then ours for thy Fathers in the days of their lives notwithstanding their miracles did no more believe in them then thou dost in us and know this the same power that attended them upon externals doth belong to our Commission in spirituals and therefore as the Apostle had power in his Commission to curse either Angel or man that did preach any other Doctrine so we have the same power in ours Reason What then doth not their Commission belong to us in these days successively as it did to them what then is the meaning of those Scriptures where it is writ The Scriptures aforetime are written for our learning and again it is writ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded Mat. 28. 20. you and loe I am with you always unto the end of the world Faith From the Lord of Glory I tell thee That neither of those Commissions do belong to thee or any of thy Seed either by succession or otherwise for from my Seed of Faith I declare That the Scripture was never written for the learning of any of thy Seed though none living now present do make it a more Idol for their own gain then thy Seed doth Though I have sufficiently proved this point in the Quakers Downfal yet from my well-spring within me I tell thee That as the Scripture was written by the revelation or inspiration of Faith so I know it was writ for the use of none but the Believers of that Faith which neither thou nor none of thy Seed are partakers of For as Paul the great Commissioner was the Penman of those sayings so that Scripture that he spake of was the writings of the first Commission viz. Moses and the Prophets which were written before his time and so for the learning of him and all that believed in his Doctrine for our learning that are of the Seed of Faith and for none of the Seed of Reason whatsoever but for our learning The word Plural includes all the Seed of Faith with him were the Scriptures written so the Commissions of Moses and the Apostles were not written for the use of any of the seven Churches but our Commission alone for as none understood the Commission of Moses and the Prophets but the Apostles so none now living understand either of the two former Commissions but this our spiritual Commission now in being and therefore from my Seedspring I tell thee We onely are the Judges of the Scripture whatsoever Reason thy cursed Seed pretend to the contrary as now thou shalt hear an infallible Exposition of the other Scripture which thou hast quoted which all besides our Commission gives a false definition thereof Go ye therefore and teach all Mâ—t 23. â—0 Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and loe I am with you always even unto the end of the world Now from hence all the seven Churches of thy Seed viz. Papist Episcopal Presbyterian Independent Baptist Ranter and Quaker do suppose that the extent of these words are in force to the end of this world and therefore the Baptists have assumed the Apostles Commission as their own when as if ye were not stone blinde you may read as ye run that this Commission was given to the twelve then living and not to Kiffin and Patience or any other Teacher of the Baptists whatsoever for ye were not born many hundred years after when this command was expressed And loe I am with you always even unto the end of the world with you my beloved Disciples and none other Reason I cannot conceive from this Scripture but there was to be a continuance of the Apostles Commission to the end of this World and though there was none of the Commissioners left to give or invest the same power by imposition of hands yet we having the same Spirit of God in us although not in the same measure yet may we not lawfully follow them as our patern and as the Apostle exhorts Brethren be followers Phil. 3. 17. together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample othervvise vvhat should all the World have done to have knovvn God or
is the Holy Ghost the Father uncreate the Son uncreate and the Holy Ghost uncreate the Father incomprehensible the Son incomprehensible and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible the Father eternal the Son eternal and the Holy Ghost eternal and yet they are not three eternals but one eternal c. so the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and yet they are not three Gods but one God c. and so we are to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord without which no man can be saved Faith Before thou proceed any further let me give answer to what thou hast already declared and the remarkablest confusion therein contained I shall pitch my discourse upon which is Neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance for thou sayest there are three Persons and but one God their glory equal their majestie co-eternal all uncreate all incomprehensible all eternal and yet not three but one eternal Now let the wisest head-peice of thy Seed answer me from these words Whether thou intends the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God as in relation to their Persons or their Natures for let me tell thee if thou believe them as touching their persons then know thou hast divided the Substance as for instance the potter of one substance matter or earth makes three vessels now though these three be of one and the self same substance yet they are divided so not one but really three distinct in each form the one from the other As thus here is three ⊙ ⊙ ⊙ distinct in themselves yet one like another not onely in form but nature also in that they are all of one matter so cannot disagree though three yet let thy Reason work which way it will thou canst not make of these three one ⊙ in which single face or person that intire nature that is unity in trinity must be comprehended and contained in one single person alone onely bearing the name of three titles viz. Father in the Creation the Son in Redemption and the Holy Ghost in Justification Without the true knowledge of what I have said from my Revelation I tell thee thy faith shall perish eternally Reason I acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord and yet I say there are not three Gods and three Lords as thus the Father is made of none neither created nor begotten the Son is of the Father alone not made nor created but begotten the Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son neither made nor created nor begotten but proceeding c. and in this Trinity none is afore nor after another none is greater nor less then another but the whole three Persons be co eternal together and co equal So thus the Vnity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped he therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity Faith O senseless Sot as were thy Teachers so art thou as to imagine that one God should have three Persons which is as unpossible as for a mortal King to have three persons and but one King for this I know though a King by generation may bâ—get a son yet that childe is not a father but a son so not one but two neither is the son equal with the father though the next heir to the Crown But however this by Faith I know the Son was the Father neither made created nor begotten as in the second Chapter is proved at large for this know if Christ was begotten then he was created so made and if begotten tell me who begot him and where and by what means Christ was begotten Reason I know no otherwise but as in the Creed I believe Christ Jesus to be the onely Son of God begotten of his Father before all Worlds God of God Light of Light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made for us and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified under Pontius Pilate be suffered and was buried and the third day rose again and ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of the Father and I believe as in the other Creed Christ was God of the Substance of the Father begotten before the Worlds and man of the Substance of his mother â—â—rn in the world perfect God and perfect man of a reasonable soul and humane flesh subsisting equal with the Father as touching his Godhead and inferiour to his Father as touching his Manhood one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of person for as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ who shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead which Kingdom shall have no end And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord and giver of life which proceedeth from the Father and the Son who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets c. Faith What a knotty gouty thred hath thy Seed spun insomuch that therewith they have woven a web of linsey-woolsey stuff sufficient to cloath the Devil as have but patience and thou shalt hear what confused blasphemy there is in these Creeds held forth to be the Faith of the Church of England without which thou sayest no flesh can be saved That thou mayest for the future take notice of thy ignorance I shall reduce them into three heads and so answer them directly as I shall quote them in their order 1. First Thou believest as thou hast expressed That Christ was God of the substance of the Father begotten before the Worlds and Man of the substance of his mother born in this World If this by thee were rightly understood I should not need Answ to expound them any other then verbatim as they lie but in that I know thou intends the Father as he was a Person got his Son a Person also therefore from the Authority of our Commission I say Thou knowest not how the Father came in being to be God much less then how this Son was begot by the Father for the word Begotten doth imply first the Father begetting 2. The matter conceived 3. The formation of this conception into a person like his Father for this I know no childe can be begotten without a dissolution of seed which seed must first dye before it can quicken to a new life which life will produce a form like its seed now this could not be in the Father didst thou but with me know what the Nature and Person of the Father was before the World That as the Godhead was offered unto death through Heb. 9. 14 the Eternal Spirit So from my Revelation of Faith I say The Eternal Spirit according to its own word and pleasure cloathed it self with a
Holy Ghost a person though they are recorded in your Creed three persons and one God Yet by faith I say as I said before there never was is or shall be but one Personal God even Christ Jesus alone blessed for ever as onely those who believe my Revelation can with me understand Isa 43. 10 11. Luke 1 35 that the Holy Ghost was the Eternal Spirit or invisible Soul of Christ as it is written The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee yea that was the Holy Ghost or invisible Soul of Christ which dissolved into seed there dyed in the womb of Mary and quickned it self into a son of flesh blood and bone yea the Holy Ghost remained with him and in him all the time he was upon earth yea that was the Holy Ghost or Eternal Spirit that dyed in the grave for they signifie both one and the self same thing as it is written The Spirit of God descended upon him like a Dove so the Holy Ghost descended upon him like a Dove So that take it which way thou pleaseth the Holy Ghost or Eternal Spirit which is the Godhead Father vvas in no Person of its ovvn but the Person of Christ onely Reason From those Scriptures thou hast quoted I understand that the Holy Ghost vvas not in the person of Christ but in Heaven a Person of its own as it is clearly recorded and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a Dove upon him Luk. 3. 21. and a voyce came from Heaven which said Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased And so in the rest of the Evangelists it is written Thâ—t the Heavens were opened unto him and he saw the Spirit of God descending lâ—ke a Dove and lighting upon him So that I do not deny but that the Spirit and the Holy Ghost is both one yet I cannot believe but that the Holy Ghost is in a form or shape of its own and that in Heaven when Christ was upon earth as it written The Holy Ghost dâ—scended from Heaven upon him And bâ—sides it is clear that Christ had a Father then in Heaven that sent the Holy Ghost and said Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Faith In answer to this I shall unfold this deep secret which none of thy Seed can ever understand yet that it may be recorded for the blessed seed of faith that shall hereafter believe in our Commission I infallibly declare That there is a Holy Ghost as also a gift of the Holy Ghost Reason But before thou speakest of this I desire if thou canst remove this great stumbling block What Father this was that said Thou art my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and if Elias as thou hast at large treaaed with me in the third Chapter then tell me by what Authority could Elias call Christ his beloved Son and why did Châ—ist make use of his Creature to call his Creator Son surely it cannot be Elias that should assume such a prerogative to call Christ Son but it must be God the Creator of all things that did call Christ his beloved Son otherwise Christ would never have so seriously and confidently hâ—ve called Elias his Father Faith As I have formerly said so I say again That herein consists the infiniteness of Eternity thaâ— he could become time yea so far deny and abase himself as to be protected by his Creature for as it is written In all things he became like unto us sin onely excepted not like unto the seed of reason but the seed of faith yea he was like unto his Prophets and Messengers in point of Commissioâ— for though Christ as he was God the Father gave all Commissions yet now from Elias he took a Commission himself and for that end and purpose before he took his journey in the flâ—sh as in the third Chapter I have declared wherefore he took up Elias that he might present the very place and authority of God as when God was there himself Elias being the Seed of his own body he could trust him when he could trust none of the Angels and therefore he took upon him the seed of Abraham and not the Heb 2. 16. nature of the Angels Now having taken him up into glory in that his time was nigh that he must fulfil his promise to the seed of Adam I say he commissionates Elias with Authority Power and Majestie like himself creating excepted to take care of Christ the onely God in this his difficult journey by which Authority Elias had full power to protect Christ in his infancy and confirm his Revelation both in Doctrine and Miracle and to call him his Son as Christ was to call Elias his God and Father as at his death he acknowledgeth Mark 16 34 35. Elias Elias my God my God why hast thou forsaken me Which some of them that stood by understanding his language said behold he calleth Elias which none but the true believers of our Commission can understand and therefore must perish for want of the true knowledge of this So that from the Revelation of faith I say herein was the infiniâ—e wisdom of the Godhead made manifest in Christs Humility that although he was the Creator yet he took upon him the form of a servant and in the place of his glory authorized his Creature Elias as a Father Though the Scripture intricately prove this yet who but the Elect of the Lord can believe this that Elias had power to send down gifts of the Holy Ghost in what form he pleased to commissionate Christ the giver of all Commissions and yet the Eternal Spirit or Holy Ghost was in the Person of Christ alone Reason Let me but ask thee this once and I shâ—ll trouble thee no longer that is let me hear thee discover thy thoughts betwixt the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Holy â—host whether it be a Person of its own or onely in the Person of Christ alone Faith As I said before so I say again That if the Holy Ghost had a Person of its own so the Lord and giver of life then its Person must be in the form of a man suitable to the person of Christ in that it is the very nature of Christ so every Nature hath its own form so the form of Christ but that which descended upon Christ was not the Holy Ghost but the gift of the Holy Ghost for as I have said before Christ who had the Holy Ghost in him invested the gift thereof upon Elias that so Elias might protect and preserve Christ in his non-age as aforesaid so that I say the essence of the Holy Ghost is inherent in Christ alone from whence the gifts or influence of the Holy Ghost flows for by my Revelation I know that when Christ ascended to his Majestie on high he sate down on the right hand which signifies that Elias's power and authority